Neji kept feeling as though some unknown presence was peeping at him. The sensation was extremely strange, like a little rat was secretly watching him lecherously while drinking some crappy happy water, making it utterly punchable.
This little rat loved... Sorry, wrong place.
Suppressing the unease in his heart as best he could, Neji focused all his attention on the battle before him.
Nearly all the Konoha contestants were here, including Asuma and Kurenai, who were secretly standing guard. Their objective this time was to protect Gaara. Tsunade had long suspected that Danzo would not be so obedient, and sure enough, she had been right.
By secretly supporting Sunagakure's hardline faction against Gaara, the best possible outcome would have been for the faction he supported to successfully seize power. However, with Tsunade's faction involved, that path was obviously impossible.
"Sakura, watch out!"
The battle continued. As a taijutsu ninja, Rock Lee held a considerable advantage in this close-range fight. Yet what concerned him at the moment was not himself, but Sakura, the person he cared about most.
Warned by him, Sakura also raised her guard and focused on sensing her surroundings. Sure enough, she discovered something unusual in the sand behind her.
"Ha!"
Sakura could be considered half a taijutsu ninja herself. After all, she possessed monstrous strength just like Tsunade. Throughout the entire series, Sakura had barely used ninjutsu a few times; after all, she was a medical ninja.
Like a dancing cherry blossom, Sakura leaped high into the air, then descended beneath the blazing sun and slammed a fist into the seemingly unremarkable desert.
"Pfft~"
The sand burst apart like rippling water beneath the powerful impact. A ninja whose face was covered by a white cloth spat out blood, and the hand he had been about to use